Category: Business Daily

Fuel is not merely a commodity consumed at the pump. It is a strategic enabler of productivity, trade, mobility, food security, manufacturing, and public service delivery. When its price rises sharply, every sector of the economy as well as every household feels the strain.

Earlier this month, petrol in Nairobi rose to Sh214.25 per litre and diesel climbed to a historic Sh242.92 per litre. The immediate reaction from transport operators, businesses, and consumers reflected the central role fuel plays in determining both the cost of living and the cost of doing business.

The government’s subsequent engagement with stakeholders and measures aimed at easing diesel prices were therefore timely and welcome, but it was a response, not a solution. The real economic lesson from this crisis lies beyond the pump.

The numbers make our dependence plain.

According to the 2026 Kenya National Bureau of Statistics Economic Survey, the transport and storage sector alone consumed petroleum products valued at approximately Sh550.7 billion. National demand grew from 5.2 million tonnes in 2024 to 5.7 million tonnes in 2025, with diesel consumption exceeding 2.4 million tonnes.

Kenya imports every litre of its refined petroleum, leaving us fully exposed to global oil market volatility, geopolitical tensions, and the depreciation of the shilling, which ensures that even when global crude prices ease, relief at the pump is partial at best.

The consequences are particularly severe for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which form the backbone of Kenya’s economy. Many lack the financial buffers necessary to absorb sudden cost increases.

Higher fuel prices translate directly into reduced profitability, constrained growth, and increased pressure on employment. Rising logistics and production costs also undermine Kenya’s competitiveness within the region. But 80 percent of Kenya’s workforce in the informal economy boda boda operators, market traders, jua kali artisans are hit harder still. Their losses do not appear in corporate accounts. They appear in fewer trips made, thinner margins, and children kept home when school fees cannot be met.

Perhaps the most pressing issue exposed by the fuel crisis is the shrinking disposable income of Kenyan households. Even before the recent fuel price increases, many salaried workers were already grappling with reduced take-home pay due to PAYE obligations, Affordable Housing Levy contributions, SHIF deductions, and higher NSSF rates.

The result is a narrowing of household purchasing power at precisely the moment when the prices of essential goods and services are rising.

A more progressive PAYE structure with wider tax bands and lower marginal rates would restore spending power, stimulate demand, and ultimately broaden the tax base. Protecting household incomes is not a welfare measure; it is an economic stabilisation tool.

The urgency of these interventions becomes clearer when viewed against Kenya’s recent progress in managing inflation. Inflation declined from 4.5 percent in 2024 to 4.1 per cent in 2025, while transport inflation fell from 5 per cent to 3.2 percent.

These hard-won gains are now directly at risk. Fuel shocks cascade into food prices, manufacturing costs, and public service delivery budgets at the county level.

Allowing them to pass through unchecked is a policy choice, not an inevitability.

What Kenya requires is a structural reform. A Strategic Petroleum Reserve Act should mandate a minimum 90-day domestic reserve, funded through a transparent, auditable levy. A price-smoothing mechanism of the kind operating in Chile, Malaysia, and India should prevent global volatility from being transmitted immediately to consumers.

and in full to consumers. A review of the fuel tax architecture should seek a balance between revenue mobilisation and economic competitiveness. Inefficiencies in fuel clearance and supply chains must be addressed.

At the same time, the country should accelerate investments in electric mobility, charging infrastructure, and strategic fuel reserves to strengthen resilience against future shocks.

Yet structural reform means little without accountability for what has already been collected. Parliament’s Public Investment Committee on Commercial and Energy Affairs recently directed the Auditor-General to carry out a forensic audit of revenue generated by the Kenya Roads Board from the fuel levy for the financial years 2020/21 to 2022/23, a direct response to a Ksh2.76 billion unreconciled variance between what KRB recorded as payable to the Kenya Urban Roads Authority and what KURA recorded as receivable.

The Auditor-General had already flagged that Road Maintenance Levy Fund receivables of Ksh5.18 billion ‘could not be confirmed.’ This is not an isolated discrepancy.

A prior special audit found that Ksh18.14 billion from the Petroleum Development Levy Fund was illegally redirected to road construction projects, while a further Ksh4.54 billion was transferred to the Ministry of Energy for purposes unrelated to petroleum. In 2024/25, KRA collected a record Ksh119.7 billion from the Roads Maintenance Levy alone. Motorists are paying more than ever. The question is whether they are getting what they paid for.

ICPAK’s role in this conversation extends beyond tax reform. As the professional body representing accountants in Kenya, we should be demanding accountability and transparency of the billions collected through fuel levies each year, including the Petroleum Development Levy and the Road Maintenance Levy. Accountability for public revenues is not merely a technical exercise. It is a civic and moral obligation, and we intend to pursue it.

Sustainable prosperity will come from a country that has built strategic reserves, reformed its price architecture, protected the purchasing power of its workers, and structured its institutions to manage energy as the national asset it is, not the revenue instrument it has become.

That is the real economic lesson from Kenya’s fuel crisis. The question is whether we are ready to act on it.

The Kenya Roads Board (KRB) has trimmed its roads bond target to Sh120 billion from Sh175 billion, revealing a reduced quantum of funding to reimburse bank loans taken to compensate contractors for pending bills.

The National Assembly Committee on Transport has revealed the reduced roads bond target but has not disclosed timelines for the floating of the securitised instrument.

The KRB had been expected to raise Sh175 billion from a bond by the first quarter of 2026, to repay commercial bank loans, which were obtained as a bridge facility to fast-track the clearance of road sector pending bills.

The government has turned to securitisation to clear the significant pile of unpaid funds to contractors amid a fiscal straitjacket, which has seen the majority of tax revenues channelled to debt service.

‘The committee noted that the securitisation process supported by the Sh5 per litre from the fuel levy has commenced,’ the Budget and Appropriation Committee observed, referencing submissions by its Transport counterpart, in a report considering the final 2026-27 budget estimates.

‘Once the bond is floated, it is expected to mobilise approximately Sh120 billion.’

The committee did not give the timelines for the bond, while the National Treasury also failed to disclose timelines for the paper’s issuance from recent enquiries by this publication.

President William Ruto, in March, said the government planned to sell the bond to the public and list the securities on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).

The KRB had previously proposed to mobilise funds for the bond from investment clubs.

Proceeds from the bond will settle a portion of an estimated Sh175 billion in bank loans, which helped clear historical road sector pending bills up to December 2024.

Investors in the bond are to receive payments from the securitised Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF), where Sh7 of every Sh25 from the sale of a litre of petrol and diesel is hived off.

‘In the course of this year, we will be bringing to the market the road maintenance levy fund securitisation bond, which has enabled us to settle the pending bills crisis that had stalled road projects everywhere in Kenya,’ President Ruto said in March.

‘The RMLF has raised for us Sh175 billion, and we will be bringing it here (to the Nairobi Securities Exchange) so people can trade it as well.’

President Ruto also failed to set a date for the bond’s issuance.

Four commercial banks, including the Trade and Development Bank, KCB Bank Kenya, Absa Bank Kenya and UBA Kenya Bank, provided financing to clear the contractors’ arrears ahead of the issuance of the roads bond programme.

The Sh175 billion bond was to be the first of two, with the government mulling a second paper to raise Sh125 billion to cover future arrears to contractors in the sector.

The Cabinet approved the setting aside of Sh12 from the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (per sale of a litre of petrol or diesel) to facilitate payments to investors in the two bonds.

The settlement of road sector pending bills has enabled contractors to resume works, contributing to the rebound of the construction sector in 2025.

The construction industry grew by 6.8 percent in 2025, recovering from a 0.7 percent contraction in 2024 as per data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).

‘Cement consumption increased by 20.3 percent to 10,300 tonnes. The length of paved roads stood at 25,400 kilometres in 2025, while residential housing units completed by the State Department for Housing and Urban Development more than quadrupled, from 1,655 units in 2024 to 6,738 units in 2025,’ the KNBS said in its 2026 Economic Survey report.

The National Assembly has pushed for powers to inspect the securitisation of government revenues as the State leverages the innovation as a new avenue for projects’ cash.

Securitisation refers to the ring-fencing of specific revenue streams to pay lenders funding various government projects, with the money acting as collateral.

The Public Debt and Privatisation Committee has previously warned that the reliance on alternative funding approaches may create additional debt risks while hiding shortfalls in the availability of mainstream financing, like external debt.

The International Monetary Fund, meanwhile, wants Kenya to include funds raised from securitisation as part of the public debt stock.

The stock of national government pending bills stood at Sh471.7 billion in March 2026, rising slightly from Sh468.5 billion in December 2025.

Kenya plans to further securitise the yearly Sh32 billion Railway Development Levy Fund to help fund the extension of the standard gauge railway from Naivasha to Kisumu, and onwards to Malaba on the border with Uganda.

As visitors streamed through the aisles of this year’s International Floriculture Trade Exhibition (IFTEX) in Nairobi, many found themselves pausing at one particular stand.

Towering above arrangements of fresh-cut blooms was a life-sized horse sculpture crafted entirely from flowers. Built by Kenyan exporter Ole Engai Growers, the installation quickly became one of the exhibition’s most photographed attractions, drawing visitors eager to capture its intricate details and imposing presence.

Yet beyond its artistic appeal, the floral horse told a deeper story about the realities of Kenya’s flower industry. Despite growing pressures, the industry continues to grow in ambition and resilience.

“The inspiration came from the zodiac and the idea of energy, endurance and growth,” said Anjili Shah, the company’s co-director. “The horse symbolises all of that, and we wanted to translate it using the flowers we grow ourselves.”

Business growth

The concept was developed by the company’s creative management team and executed by a senior designer. The effort earned the company a Silver Award for Design Excellence at this year’s IFTEX.

Operating on approximately 29 hectares in Uasin Gishu County, the family-run enterprise produces premium cut flowers for export. While gypsophila remains its flagship product, the farm also grows a wide range of varieties, including delphiniums, asters, kangaroo paws, dianthus and kiwi mellow cultivars.

“We are essentially a family-run flower business, with partners working together,” said co-founder and director Sanir Shah. “Our main production is gypsophila, but we also grow a wide range of varieties depending on market demand.”

The company exports an estimated 1,200 tonnes of flowers annually, serving primarily European markets while expanding its presence in the Middle East. Like many flower exporters, however, its growth ambitions are increasingly shaped by factors beyond the farm gate.

Rising uncertainty

Behind the colourful displays and commercial deals at IFTEX lies an industry grappling with rising costs, climate uncertainty and intensifying competition.

Freight costs, in particular, have emerged as one of the biggest challenges.

“Five years ago, we were paying around $1.40 per kilo for freight. Now it is over $4 per kilo,” said Shah. “That is a massive increase. You can imagine the pressure on margins.”

For flower exporters, whose products must reach overseas markets quickly and in perfect condition, transport costs can determine profitability.

The Kenya Flower Council (KFC) says rising freight charges, coupled with fuel price increases, have become a major concern across the sector.

Speaking during the official opening of IFTEX 2026, KFC chief executive Clement Tulezi said escalating logistics costs were placing significant operational pressure on exporters.

According to the council, freight rates have risen from approximately $3.10 per kilogramme to nearly $5.00 per kilogramme in a relatively short period. During peak seasons, freight can account for more than 40 percent of total export costs.

The industry is also contending with higher fertiliser prices, increased production expenses and delayed tax refunds, factors that have squeezed cash flow for many growers.

Sh10 billion VAT refunds

KFC is urging the government to release pending VAT refunds worth approximately Sh10 billion and to consider tax relief measures on key agricultural inputs.

Exporters say countries such as Ethiopia continue to enjoy lower logistics costs, making it difficult for Kenyan growers to remain competitive in some international markets.

“We cannot easily increase flower prices because the market is very sensitive,” said Shah. “When freight costs increase, we are hit directly.”

Global events have further complicated operations. Conflicts affecting international flight routes have occasionally disrupted cargo availability, while changing weather patterns have made production planning increasingly unpredictable.

“This year, we expected a dry spell in January, February and March, but instead we had unexpected rain,” Shah said. “You cannot fully predict the weather anymore, and that affects everything from planting schedules to quality control.”

Despite these headwinds, Kenya’s flower industry remains one of the country’s most important export earners.

The sector generated approximately $845 million in 2025, contributing around 1.5 percent of GDP and maintaining its position as the largest segment within horticulture.

Kenya exports flowers to more than 60 countries, with roughly 70 percent destined for the European Union. The Netherlands remains the primary gateway into European markets, while demand from the Middle East, Asia and Eastern Europe continues to expand.

The 2026 edition of IFTEX, themed “Shaping the Future of Floriculture”, brought together more than 200 exhibitors from across the value chain, including breeders, growers, logistics providers and input suppliers.

Kenya has frozen a planned review of electricity prices for the year starting July 1, dealing a blow to efforts to increase revenues for Kenya Power and other utilities in the energy sector.

Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi said on Wednesday that Kenya Power had withdrawn its application for new tariffs amid concerns that a review could have led to higher electricity costs.

The withdrawal of the tariff application is set to derail efforts to secure additional funding for utilities in the energy sector, raising questions about their ability to deliver key projects if alternative funding sources are not found.

The proposed tariffs could have seen households and businesses pay more for electricity, potentially triggering public backlash at a time when the government is grappling with growing outrage over the cost of living.

Inflation currently stands at a 28-month high of 6.7 percent, recorded last month, and higher electricity prices could have added further pressure on consumer costs.

‘Following consultations within government and engagement with key stakeholders in the sector, the retail electricity tariff review application that was submitted on March 31 this year by Kenya Power on behalf of the sector has been withdrawn,’ Mr Wandayi said on Wednesday.

‘This decision reflects the need to buttress a sustainable energy sector while protecting households, businesses and industries from possible cost escalation.’

The new tariffs were expected to be in force for the three years to June 2029 and were seen as critical to expanding the funding pool for critical projects such as upgrading the electricity transmission and distribution network.

Kenya Power’s decision to withdraw the application comes barely a week after the energy regulator postponed public participation meetings on the proposed tariffs.

The Energy Act, 2019 allows Kenya Power to apply for a review of electricity tariffs every three years. The current tariffs came into force in April 2023 and are due to expire at the end of this month.

Medical insurance claims have nearly doubled over the past five years to Sh52.61 billion, driven by rising healthcare costs and increased utilisation, forcing insurers to raise premiums to remain viable.

Latest industry data shows claims rose by 97.7 percent from Sh26.69 billion in 2021 to Sh52.61 billion last year, underlining mounting pressure on underwriters as more Kenyans seek treatment and the cost of care escalates.

The surge in claims has been accompanied by a steady increase in premiums, which grew by 81.1 percent from Sh51.42 billion in 2021 to Sh93.28 billion last year. This reflects insurers’ efforts to price in higher risks and sustain their medical books amid shrinking margins.

Medical insurance remains the largest segment in the general insurance business, accounting for 41 percent of Sh227.16 billion total premiums last year. The outsized share of medical insurance highlights its central role in the sector’s growth as well as its vulnerability to cost pressures.

Rising medical inflation has compounded the challenge. Kenya’s healthcare costs are projected to grow by 13.5 percent in this year, up from 9.8 percent in 2023, according to Aon medical trends report.

At 13.5 percent, the country ranks among African markets with the fastest-rising medical costs, trailing only high-inflation economies such as Nigeria (43 percent), Ethiopia (42 percent), Malawi (27.1 percent) and Zimbabwe (22.5 percent).

The increase in claims has also been linked to higher uptake of insurance covers, particularly employer-sponsored schemes, as well as expanded benefits that encourage greater utilisation of healthcare services.

Disclosures by listed firms show billions of shillings spent annually on staff medical cover, with KCB Group having spent Sh2.37 billion last year as that of Co-operative Bank of Kenya and NCBA Group came in at Sh962.12 million and Sh727.76 million, respectively.

To manage the cost spiral, employers are adopting measures such as higher deductibles, co-payments and tighter claims management as well as reviewing benefit structures, according to Aon.

‘To mitigate rising costs and the risks they bring, employers are focusing primarily on hard negotiations with insurance carriers and other vendors,’ said Aon.

Medical insurance has a higher market concentration in Kenya. The top five medical underwriters, led by Jubilee Health, AAR and Old Mutual, control over 63 percent of the market, giving them significant influence over pricing and product structures.

The trend of rising claims is unlikely to ease in the near term, as hospitals continue to adjust prices upward and patients increasingly seek specialised care.

The overlapping mandates between county and national governments are back in the spotlight amid a fresh row over proposed tobacco control laws, adding to a growing list of disputes over the cost of doing business.

Overlapping roles in the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution have, over the years, triggered conflicts between the national government and devolved units in key areas such as public health management, business licensing and revenue collection, public land, and physical planning.

For instance, farmers in counties including Kiambu are locked in court battles over what they term ‘double taxation’ by the two levels of government on farm produce such as tea, coffee and milk. There have also been frequent clashes between county and national governments over the procurement of medical equipment, management of health workers and the development of key infrastructure such as roads.

Turf wars

A fresh conflict is now simmering over regulation of the multi-billion-shilling tobacco industry, with the Tobacco Control (Amendment) Bill 2024 proposing mandatory licensing by county governments for all dealers in tobacco and nicotine products, including manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers.

Manufacturers and traders have opposed the proposal, terming it duplicative of the role already played by the Ministry of Health and warning that it will increase the cost of doing business while fuelling illicit trade.

‘These proposals run against the Government of Kenya’s commitment to facilitate the ease of doing business, and risk creating significant disruption for compliant enterprises. This provision introduces unnecessary regulatory duplication, higher compliance costs, and administrative inefficiencies,’ the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) said in its submission to the Senate on the Tobacco Control (Amendment) Bill 2024.

‘Further, layering multiple licensing requirements at both national and county levels is likely to result in inconsistent enforcement, regulatory uncertainty and barriers to formal trade, while inadvertently incentivising illicit trade growth, which is already estimated to account for nearly half of the market,’ it added, urging that the provision be deleted from the Bill.

The Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) also criticised the additional regulations, terming them counterproductive.

‘The Chamber’s position is that regulating the same commercial activity through parallel approval regimes risks duplication, increased compliance costs and fragmented enforcement across multiple authorities,’ it said.

‘From a business continuity perspective, duplicative licensing requirements create uncertainty for traders who are already subject to a variety of obligations under county trade licensing regimes, national standards, tax administration rules and sector-specific controls,’ KNCCI chief executive Kenneth Mutahi said in submissions to the Senate.

Constitutional grey areas

The rising regulatory conflicts are partly tied to provisions in the Constitution. The Fourth Schedule, which outlines the distribution of functions between the national and county governments, grants devolved units responsibility for trade development and regulation, including markets, trade licences (excluding regulation of professions), fair trading practices, local tourism and cooperative societies.

The Fourth Schedule also grants the national government regulatory powers over critical areas such as health policy, placing the tobacco industry at the centre of a dispute over overlapping mandates between the two levels of government.

‘There are grey areas in law on the roles of the two levels of government that need to be addressed. Many economic sectors have raised concerns about being caught up in overlapping regulations,’ said John Otieno, a business analyst.

A regulatory audit report released by KAM in March 2026 revealed a heavy burden on businesses arising from duplicative actions by national and county governments.

‘The cumulative regulatory burden on manufacturers has grown significantly over time. In some manufacturing sectors, businesses must obtain more than 50 licences, permits, fees and charges from multiple regulatory agencies at both national and county levels,’ KAM chief executive Tobias Alando said during the launch of the report on March 10, 2026.

‘For example, the proposed additional licensing requirements will impose additional costs and complexity, which is burdensome, particularly for some small traders whose livelihoods depend on the sector,’ BAT Kenya managing director Crispin Ochola said in a submission to the Senate.

Regulatory clash

Beyond the overlapping mandates of national and county governments, industry players also pointed to conflicting regulations within the national framework, particularly proposals in the Tobacco Control Bill 2024 aimed at tackling plastic pollution.

The Bill proposes a ban on the use of single-use plastics.

‘While the objective of addressing plastic pollution is acknowledged and supported, the proposed approach raises significant concerns from a regulatory coherence and policy alignment perspective,’ KAM said.

Manufacturers noted that Kenya already has a comprehensive environmental governance framework under the Environmental Management and Co-ordination Act (EMCA), which provides an economy-wide mechanism for managing plastic waste and packaging materials.

‘This framework is operationalised through binding subsidiary legislation, including the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Regulations, 2021, and the Management and Control of Plastic Packaging Materials Regulations, 2024. These regulations apply uniformly across all sectors and impose clear obligations on producers, importers and retailers,’ the lobby said.

Manufacturers added that the current framework includes mandatory registration with the National Environment Management Authority (Nema), financing of collection and recycling schemes, licensing of plastic packaging materials, traceability requirements and the progressive redesign of packaging to support circular economy outcomes.

KAM argued that introducing a sector-specific statutory ban within tobacco legislation risks creating regulatory fragmentation.

‘It would effectively subordinate EMCA’s coordinating role by singling out one sector for an outright prohibition, while other sectors remain governed by harmonised, proportionate controls under existing environmental law,’ it said.

‘Such an outcome undermines policy consistency and introduces unnecessary legal misalignment. Further, the proposed ban does not sufficiently take into account ongoing regulatory implementation processes being led by Nema. Nema has consistently communicated that enforcement will focus on EPR compliance, licensing of plastic packaging, and operational take-back schemes,’ the lobby added.

KAM warned that the proposed ban would disrupt the agreed compliance pathway and create uncertainty for manufacturers, distributors and retailers.

Industry pushback

As part of its opposition to the Bill, BAT Kenya is also seeking a review of the proposed prohibition of additives and flavours, arguing that it would fuel illicit trade.

The company said flavour bans have failed in several European countries, including the Netherlands, Estonia and Denmark, and have instead fuelled black-market activity and increased access by underage consumers.

‘If a regulation in effect for 12 years has been found ineffective, overly complex and unenforceable by 27 European jurisdictions, it is extremely ill-advised to pursue a similar failed approach in Kenyan regulation,’ BAT Kenya said.

‘Excessively restricting the range of available flavours, through restriction of ingredients or outright banning additives which result in a characterising flavour, could also push smokeless product consumers into an illegal, unregulated market, encourage potentially dangerous home-mixing of flavours or motivate them to return to smoking,’ Mr Ochola said.

For nearly 15 years, Stella Auka lived with a condition she struggled to name but could never ignore: chronic constipation that slowly eroded her well-being. Doctors advised more water and more vegetables. She tried, but nothing changed.

Looking back, Stella traces part of the problem to a shift in diet that once felt aspirational. Raised in a household where vegetables were the norm and meat was a rare Christmas privilege, adulthood brought a different idea of ‘better living’: meat almost daily, full-fat milk tea brewed the Kenyan way, and vegetables cooked in milk for richness.

It was indulgence that felt deserved. But her body disagreed.

At 52, she made a decision that would reset her life. She eliminated animal protein from her diet and began each morning with water and fruit. Within weeks, her digestion improved. The constipation that had defined years of discomfort began to ease.

‘I didn’t understand what my body was telling me until I changed everything,’ she reflects.

What seemed like a personal health correction soon became something larger.

During this same period of dietary change and recovery, Stella began roasting peanuts for colleagues at the hotel where she worked to earn extra income. She started small, with just Sh1,000 in capital.

Within days, she had recovered her initial investment in profit. It was not yet a business. But it was a signal.

Just as the idea began to take shape, life shifted again.

In 2016, Stella was diagnosed with non-receptive breast cancer.

‘I died before achieving my vision,’ she says. ‘Not literally, but cancer almost took everything before I acted on what I knew I was meant to do.’

Treatment followed-18 months of uncertainty, hospital visits, and physical depletion. Yet even in that period, the idea of food as both livelihood and healing stayed with her.

When she regained her strength in 2017, she made a decision that would define her next chapter. She retired early, formalised her idea, and registered Broad Range Enterprise Ltd with her partner, Edmond Kwena.

She began again from her veranda with a jiko, which became her stove. A candle replaced industrial sealing equipment. Each batch of roasted groundnuts was packaged by hand and sold the following day. Everything sold. She repeated the process.

The business was simple in its early days, but demand was consistent.

Today, Broad Range employs seven staff and supplies hospitals, schools and wellness centres. Production has scaled significantly, with modern machinery now allowing the company to process up to 600 kilogrammes of nuts per month.

But Stella insists the growth has not been driven by ambition alone. It has been shaped by customer demand and necessity.

New products emerged organically: sesame butter for customers managing blood sugar, almond butter tailored to individual preferences, and custom flour blends designed for specific dietary needs.

At the centre of the business is cashew nut butter, a product Stella describes as both practical and symbolic. Broken cashew pieces once considered low-value by the industry, are now transformed into a premium product with margins of up to 40 percent.

The nuts are sourced directly from women’s cooperatives along the Kenyan coast. When supply runs low, she turns to processors, but she is deliberate about quality.

‘When someone eats our food and then eats something else, they can tell the difference,’ she says. ‘They come back.’

But the path from veranda operation to established enterprise has not been smooth.

In mid-2017, the introduction of Kenya’s plastic ban forced immediate changes. Stella had to borrow money to switch to biodegradable packaging. The cost was punishing.

‘The interest rates were so high, about six percent monthly,’ she recalls. ‘I spent nearly 18 months of profit just servicing the loan.’

Cash flow pressures intensified when supermarkets entered the picture. Their 90-day payment cycles were incompatible with a young business that relied on constant reinvestment.

Rather than collapse under the strain, Stella shifted strategy. She stepped away from heavy supermarket dependence and pursued alternative distribution channels that allowed faster returns.

What sustained the business through these early shocks was not scale, but resilience.

There were moments, she says, when survival depended on trust and teamwork. Even during a family health crisis, operations continued. Orders were fulfilled. The business stayed afloat.

‘Whenever people think I may have changed or disappeared, when they come back, I am still here doing the same thing,’ she says.

The numbers reflect that consistency. Cashew butter revenue has grown by more than 100 percent over three years, reaching about Sh100,000 between 2023 and 2025, driven entirely by word-of-mouth rather than advertising.

Beyond its own growth, Broad Range has begun to influence others. The company has trained the All About Nut Women Group in Mombasa, which she says now generates about Sh40,000 per month and is approaching break-even within eight months.

Export plans are now underway, with Stella working with Brand Kenya to meet certification requirements. The process is slow and costly, but she is determined.

Her philosophy remains unchanged: food should be clean, simple, and free from unnecessary additives. I

‘Most people who don’t eat healthily can’t afford to,’ she says. ‘But vegetables are the healthiest. You don’t have to eat expensive food.’

For Stella, the measure of success is not just financial. It is physical, practical, and deeply personal.

Fruit remains her most expensive grocery item. Hospital visits, she notes, are her cheapest-because she rarely needs them.

Parliament has ordered a special audit of the Public Service Internship Programme (PSIP), citing persistent payroll anomalies and delayed stipend payments that have dogged one of the government’s flagship youth employment strategies.

The National Assembly Budget and Appropriations Committee wants the Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu to complete the review by December 30, 2026 and cover the programme’s financial and payroll records since inception.

‘This audit is intended to address persistent challenges experienced since the programme’s inception, including payroll inconsistencies, delays in stipend payments, and weaknesses in financial management and accountability systems,’ said the parliamentary committee in a report.

‘Additionally, the funds allocated to the PSIP programme should only be applied for the payment of stipends and not for operational expenses.’

Introduced in 2019, the PSIP seeks to equip graduates with practical workplace experience and improve employability in an economy struggling to create sufficient formal jobs.

The programme places graduates in ministries, departments and agencies across government institutions for a one-year internship at the standard stipend rate of Sh25,000 per month per intern.

Under the deal interns are drawn from all regions and deployed to national government establishments across the country to develop professional skills required in the public sector and the wider labour market.

Graduates recruited under the programme are drawn from a wide range of disciplines including engineering, business, education, humanities, agriculture and social sciences.

The PSIP is funded by the national government with the money mainly used to pay interns’ monthly stipends during the one-year placement period.

Over the years, the programme has expanded into one of the largest graduate placement initiatives run by the government, coinciding with rising youth unemployment and mounting pressure on the State to create opportunities for thousands of graduates entering the labour market annually.

The internship scheme has increasingly become an alternative route into government service as fiscal pressures limit recruitment on permanent and pensionable terms.

Complaints over delayed stipend payments have, however, frequently emerged from beneficiaries, raising concerns about the programme’s administration and operational efficiency.

The latest intervention by Parliament indicates that such concerns have persisted despite repeated allocations from the Exchequer to support the initiative.

The committee’s recommendations come as scrutiny intensifies on the effectiveness of public spending programmes targeting youth employment and skills development.

They also come at a time when public agencies are under pressure to demonstrate prudent use of taxpayer resources amid growing fiscal constraints.

Human rights advocates want Parliament to reject the Treasury’s proposal to exempt capital gains tax-charged at 15 percent on net gains-on transfers of property to real estate investment trusts (REITs).

REITs are pooled funds investing in property development or ownership, allowing investors partial ownership in the form of units (shares), which they can trade.

The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) told the National Assembly’s Finance and National Planning Committee that the proposed exemption of capital gains tax on transfer of property to REITs raises significant concerns relating to revenue protection, tax equity, and avoidance risks within the tax framework.

The Treasury has proposed in the Finance Bill 2026 to exempt from capital gains tax any capital gains realised on the transfer of property to a REIT that is registered with the Kenya Revenue Authority.

The Bill also proposes to exempt from stamp duty any instrument that transfers a beneficial interest in property to a REIT authorised under the Capital Markets Act. The Treasury is proposing to amend the First Schedule to the Income Tax Act, which provides for categories of income that are exempt from income tax.

‘REITs already benefit from substantial tax advantages under existing law, including exemptions from income tax at entry level, deemed tax-paid treatment on investor distributions, and value-added tax exemption on asset transfers into REITs,’ John Kottowa from the KHRC said.

‘The proposed amendment would therefore create an almost complete tax-free structure for high-value property transactions conducted through REITs, allowing substantial gains to escape capital gains tax, income tax, and VAT simultaneously.’

He told the committee, chaired by Molo MP Kuria Kimani, that the proposals also create a substantial risk of structured tax avoidance through the use of REITs as temporary conduits for property sales to eliminate otherwise payable capital gains tax liabilities.

While making submissions during the public participation exercise on the Finance Bill, 2026 organised for Nairobi County residents, Mr Kottowa said the proposed blanket exemption is disproportionate and risks undermining the principles of progressive taxation and equitable revenue collection.

The Treasury’s proposal, if enacted into law, will further expand tax incentives for Reits which are seen as a means of allowing small investors to access the capital-intensive real estate sector.

Most commercial properties are owned by rich individuals and institutions such as pension funds and investment firms.

REITS are exempt from the 30 percent income tax that normal companies pay. This means that shareholders (unitholders) only pay withholding tax -at five percent for residents- on the distributions they receive from the investment vehicles. Subsidiaries that are fully owned by a REIT are also exempt from income tax.

Diversified trading firm Car and General (C and G) is set to scrap its dormant employee share ownership plan (Esop) as it considers an alternative remuneration scheme to motivate its staff.

The Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm formalised the share ownership plan in 2014 but has not implemented it, with the company now set to terminate it at its annual general meeting on June 23, 2026.

‘We are terminating the Esop for two reasons: it has never been implemented and we also believe we have better alternative incentive schemes for our employees,’ said Vijay Gidoomal, the chief executive at C and G.

Mr Gidoomal added that the company is yet to determine the specifics of an alternative remuneration scheme, noting that there are diverse benefits options that can be packaged and offered to staff.

The company’s employees are currently paid exclusively in cash as salaries and retirement benefits. C and G incurred total staff costs of Sh1.5 billion in the year ended December 2025, up from Sh1.42 billion the year before.

The higher payroll costs were driven partly by a growth in the workforce to 1,280 from 1,189.

C and G has diversified operations including trade, poultry, manufacturing and real estate, indicating that it would have had a more difficult task in designing its Esop performance and allocation rules compared to a less complex business.

Share-based compensation schemes are seen as aligning the interest of workers with those of shareholders. By owning stock in their company, employees are exposed to the upside and downside of their performance and decisions.

Most NSE-listed firms, however, pay their employees including senior managers in cash (salaries and bonuses), simplifying their payrolls and protecting their shareholders from potential dilution.

A few others give shares to their top executives for free or at a minimal cost on top of their salaries and bonuses. Safaricom and Equity Group are among the other firms with stock-based compensation plans.

Equity’s shareholders in 2024 voted to issue 198.6 million shares to its Esop where employees will be able to buy stocks at discounted price of 50 cents apiece.

NCBA Group, which has not implemented its Esop for more than seven years, says it will soon start allocating shares to qualifying employees.

Kenya Airways had also not issued shares to qualifying staff for more than seven years under its Esop by the end of 2024.

Esops are usually designed to attract and retain employees, with the workers usually able to access the shares after several years on a rolling basis.

Most of the shares tend to be taken up by top executives who are seen as the most critical talent in driving strategy and culture, especially in competitive sectors such as finance.